


take shelter from the night

by forever_and_always



Series: where the heart is [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: (it's riko), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Neil as Nathaniel Wesninski, POV Andrew Minyard, Pre-Relationship, Raven Neil Josten, Triggers, atypical ways of flirting, reference to drugs and alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 06:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11777526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forever_and_always/pseuds/forever_and_always
Summary: It's the night before a match between the Foxes and the Raven, and with Kevin now playing as Foxes, it's set everyone on edge. During a smoke break at the court, Andrew encounters an unexpected visitor.---Or: Nathaniel is counting down the days until he's done, and Andrew doesn't care about anything until he finally does.





	take shelter from the night

**Author's Note:**

> *does sorta a hand waving thing over canon* 
> 
> But this does feature some heavy elements from the series especially relating to Andrew's childhood trauma and abuse, so proceed cautiously. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!!!

When Andrew pulled into the empty parking lot of the court, Kevin was out of the car before it even stopped, muttering about drills and the alcohol that was being withheld from him, but Andrew followed at a more sedate pace. Kevin had given up trying to get Andrew to join him after only a few blank-faced stares. To him, Exy was a means to an end, it didn’t mean anything more than that. It wasn’t his life. 

Kevin was already running solo drills by the time Andrew wandered in. It was the same every night. Kevin would practice the same stuff he learned as a Raven, get frustrated that his right hand still wasn’t as strong as his left, but then he’d pick up his racquet and continue on. After all, they both had to hold up their ends of the deal. 

Sitting in his normal spot in the bleachers, Andrew himself, grew the slightest bit restless through the haze of the medication. It was nasty stuff but it was better than dealing with the withdraw or the risk of getting sent to jail, and Andrew told himself the feeling had nothing to do with the upcoming game. The team had played the Ravens in the past, and they would play them more in the future. It was just a meaningless game. Kevin was safe, and nothing was going to change that. When the unwelcomed feeling didn’t subside, Andrew took his smoke break designated for when they got back to the Tower early. He decided Kevin would be fine unsupervised the few minutes he would be gone, and wound his way back through the stands and outer court to the locker room and the side door which lead outside. 

The air was blessedly cool against Andrew’s heated skin, and a welcomed reprieve from the sweltering South Carolina day. Dark jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt weren’t the most appropriate choice for the current season but it kept his bands and remaining skin covered, and when paired with his favorite glare, it made sure people stayed away. From his pocket, Andrew took out his trusted carton of cigarettes and the lighter he kept tucked inside the box, then with a smooth and practiced flick brought a lit cigarette up to his waiting lips. From there he could operate on a kind of autopilot. It took next to nothing to think about how to take the next drag. Instead it offered Andrew coveted moments of silence and a time to sort through his drug induced haze, which unfortunately had no effect on his memories. 

Andrew knocked off the ash from the burning end before inhaling again. He held the acrid smoke in his lungs long enough for it to begin to hurt. Exhaling in a steady breath, he watched the remaining pale cloud curl up into the night sky and dissipate into nothing. Barely halfway done with the first one, Andrew crushed it with his boot against the paved ground and lit a second. He checked the time on his phone. Kevin would be getting worried soon if he didn’t reappear, but he still had some time to be away. 

He was tempted to go for a third cigarette when an unfamiliar car pulled into the empty lot headed straight for Andrew and the unlocked door leading straight to Kevin. No one had any reason to know they were there. The car rolled to a stop near Andrew’s SUV, and a lone figure dressed all in black workout gear stepped out behind the driver’s door. 

The person’s hair shone a dark copper color in limited light, and Andrew instantly knew who had joined him, the one and only Nathaniel Wesninski. The man who shared Andrew’s jersey number and strongest linebacker for the Ravens, Kevin’s ex-teammate and soon to be another pain for Andrew to deal with.

Nathaniel sauntered towards him until he was close enough to reach out and touch. “Didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you were allergic to putting in more effort than necessary.” 

Andrew took a slow drag from the cigarette still in his hand, taking the chance to study the man in front of him. Nathaniel’s clear blue eyes looked almost as soulless as his own surely did. “I didn’t take you to be a stalker.” 

The smile Nathaniel wore was the same one he favored for the height of an Exy game. “You know it’s not too late for you to become a Raven.”   


Andrew didn’t bother with a response right away. He focused on the heat at his fingertips as the cigarette burned closer and closer to the filter, he traced the delicate curves of the small number three tattooed on the even more delicate sharpness of Nathaniel’s cheekbone, down to his lips waiting to respond to Andrew’s reply.

“What makes you think I’m going to change my mind?”

“Do you really not care how great you are?” Nathaniel took a step closer to Andrew, then another. Andrew could count the freckles that spread across the bridge of his nose and spilled over onto his cheeks. “You’re better than most professional goalies right now, and I think that one day you could be the best. You could have a guaranteed spot at Court.” 

It was impossible to forget the time he was approached by Riko, Nathaniel, and Kevin and offered a spot on their team. Nathaniel hadn’t taken his eyes off Andrew the whole time Riko tried to persuade him to join. 

Andrew kept his breaths steady when spoke. “I told Riko no once. I’m not going to say it again, even if he sent one of his lap dogs in his place.” 

Nathaniel smirked, leaning down until their faces were even with each other. With how close he was, it would be easy for Andrew to slip a knife out from beneath an armband and allow it to find a new home between Nathaniel’s ribs. But he was too pretty to leave a scar on, and the little know fact that Nathaniel was the son of the Butcher. There was no way he wasn’t also armed with his own deadly blade. When Andrew thought the other man was going to finally pull away, he felt warm fingertips brush his own and the sudden absence of the cigarette. Andrew tried not to flinch at the unsolicited contact.

Nathaniel inhaled the last remaining bit and dropped the spent filter next to their feet. 

“I didn’t know you smoked.” Andrew couldn’t tear his eyes away from the pale column of Nathaniel’s neck as he tilted his head back for the release. 

“I don’t.”

“What are you doing here, Nathaniel?”

“I wanted to get in some extra practice before the night ended.”

“You expect me to believe you just came here without the rest of your flock.” 

“I never had a leash that kept me bound to Riko like Kevin had, and to those whose say really matters, I’m better than both of them.” Something had shifted from within the other man, the smile that held together his carefully designed veneer cracked and was letting in the barest hints of darkness hiding right below the surface. “I did what I could to protect Kevin, and now I’m trusting you to keep doing the same.” 

“Seems like an idiotic thing for you to do. Haven’t you heard the talk about me?” Andrew replied. “They say I’m a monster.” 

Nathaniel’s eyes turned cold. “I’ve seen true monsters, and you, Andrew, are not one of them.” 

Andrew was hit by the urge to do something reckless that involved the man in front of him, but those feelings weren’t real. It was just another unwanted side effect from the medication. 

“Riko’s losing control,” continued Nathaniel. “His reign will be coming to an end soon, so this is me telling you to be prepared. There’s no telling who’s going to be left standing when it’s all over.” 

Nathaniel’s revealed secret caught Andrew off guard, and the other man knew it. He did it on purpose, because now, Andrew was in debt to him and owed him a truth. It was a position Andrew never wanted to be in with any, worse only to being held down. 

“I already made a deal with Kevin,” he said instead. “And if I break it, that makes me a liar.” 

Nathaniel nodded in understanding, pulling back and resuming his old intolerable smirk. “I would hate for that to happen to you, Andrew.” He took a few steps back, then turned and walked back to his car without another word. 

Andrew didn’t stay outside long after that. He had been away from Kevin too long as it was, and Nathaniel wasn’t worth a fresh cigarette. By the time he made it to the locker room, Kevin had already showered and packed, pacing the partial distance of the room in agitation. 

“Where have you been?” demanded Kevin, sounding as upset as a petulant child. 

“Taking an extended smoke break.”   


“For forty-five minutes?”   


“Yes.” Andrew was too tired to draw out a threat, and from the look on his face, Kevin didn’t believe him. He kicked the corner of Kevin’s bag with his foot. “Come on. It’s past your bedtime.” 

  
  
  


Today had not been a good day, not that Andrew had anything close to a good day since he got released from rehab.

The day had started out fine enough. Kevin stayed glued to the tv waiting for news about Edgar Allan, Aaron avoided him as much as possible, and Nicky uselessly tried to maintain the peace between them. Besides Renee, the other Foxes were wisely keeping an even farther distance from him. The turn of the day happened when some freshman soccer player barreled out of the Tower’s doors as Andrew was heading back to the dorm after his morning classes. The kid threw the doors open, not caring if anyone was in the way, meaning Andrew had to take an extra step to the side to not be hit. 

“Oh, you better watch where you’re going next time,” said the kid. He must have not known to leave Andrew alone, because as he passed, he pat his broad hand against Andrew’s back in a seemingly friendly jester. Andrew instantly froze, and the kid was gone running down the sidewalk. 

It was early enough in the day for no one to see Andrew stumble inside the building and up to his room. With every step it was harder for him to breathe, and his vision was starting to blur. He had been working so hard to forget everything his mind wouldn’t let him only for it to be ruined in seconds by a complete stranger. He was present enough to lock the main door to the room behind him and door closing his bed off to the rest suite. Hours later, Andrew still felt hands on him, but the endless cycle of reliving the memories that went with the ghost touches were easing up. 

At some point Nicky knocked on the door and asked if he was okay, but quickly gave up when Andrew refused to respond. He knew he needed to eventually get out of bed. He hadn’t eaten anything since before morning practice, and Bee would disappointed if he didn’t tell her what happened before their next session together later in the week. She told Andrew once about how proud she was with the progress he had made over the end of the semester, but warned there would still be setbacks. Too bad she didn’t tell him how much those setbacks would fucking tear him apart, all made worse by his fresh sobriety. 

It was completely dark by the time Andrew peeled himself from the protective layers of blankets he had cocooned himself in on his bed. The rest of the dorm was dark too, with only the tv for noise. Kevin sat motionless in front of it and stared at the screen as if he was waiting for it to bite him. And for once, Andrew noted, it wasn’t on a sports channel featuring a program about Exy. 

He thought Kevin didn’t register his presence until he finally spoke. “You missed practice tonight.”

“I had better things to do.” Andrew was too bone-deep exhausted to cook anything substantial to eat so he settle for a cup of instant cocoa and the rest of a half-eaten pint of ice cream. 

“Nicky’s with the girls and Aaron went out.”   


“I didn’t ask.”

Kevin didn’t look happy with his responses or his food choices, but Andrew thought he could suck it up for the night and not act like a bitch. His only saving grace was the fact that Kevin looked more upset over whatever people were talking about on the news channel he was paying rapt attention to. Andrew ignored it, and his annoying roommate, letting the voices buzz in the back of his head while he focused on alternating between the hot and cold chocolate, and it worked until he heard a name that caught his attention.  _ Nathaniel Wesninski.  _

“Breaking news for this evening, ladies and gentlemen,” the new anchor said. “Is the final verdict of disappearance of Nathaniel Wesninski and the death of Riko Moriyama. For those who haven’t been following the recent updates, Wesninski, a linebacker for the Edgar Allan University Ravens, made a deal with the local authorities and the FBI to take down his father, Nathan Wesninski, known better as the Butcher of Baltimore, one of the largest crime bosses in the country. In part of his deal with the FBI, Wesninski announced he had also changed his name to Neil Josten, to quote ‘separate himself from the sins of his father and his past with the Ravens.’”

Images of Nathaniel, of  _ Neil,  _ flashed across the screen. Photos of him bruised and bleeding, a grainy video of his rescue, and more photos from later when an attempt was made to patch him up. Thick white bandages covered his arms and the side of his face standing out against his paler than normal skin.

Andrew knew too well that it was going to leave scars, and it sickened him enough that he didn’t notice the anchor had continued to talk. 

“- appeared earlier with his new agent in a special press conference to announce he would no longer be playing for the Raven organization, instead Josten has accepted an early invitation to play professionally for Denver as a starting striker. There’s no doubt the world of Exy will be watching and waiting to see what will happen with one of their most promising players.” 

Andrew didn’t want to hear them talk about him anymore. Beside him, Kevin looked worse than he had earlier. “Did you know?” he asked, not too politely. 

Kevin responded with a jerky nod. “He called me earlier today before the news broke to tell me what really happened. He asked to talk to you too, for some reason, but you didn’t answer the door, and he didn’t have time to wait.” 

“It’s for the best.” And to Andrew it was. Kevin was finally free from Riko’s terror, and news would come out about his non-accident if it hadn’t already. Andrew could focus on keeping his family together and put this most recent shitstorm behind him. 

In the privacy of the vacant bedroom, Andrew let the name  _ Neil Josten  _ roll around in his head until it filled the spot once designated for Nathaniel Wesninski. He picked up his phone intending to send a text to Bee, but he found himself on the website he bought his first pair of armbands from, adding a matching black pair to his cart.

After all, Andrew still owed him 

**Author's Note:**

> So this third part takes place way before parts one and two, but I figured it was time to give a little backstory to Andrew and Neil before they were Andrew and Neil. I don't plan to write this series in order, but when it's completed I might decide to reorder the parts.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!!! You guys are the best and as always comments appreciated. You can also find me @moonywaitup on tumblr and feel free to come cry with me about these boys.


End file.
